How to handle a housekeeper situation
February 24, 2020 10:37 PM   Subscribe

Last time my housekeeper came, she kept getting off-task and finding other things to work on. I'm irritated that if I have her back, I'll be paying for what should have been done last week. I'm trying to figure out how to approach this with her or if I should find someone else.

My income is very fixed so I usually can't hire help, but my apartment had gotten really bad and I needed help. I found B in a local FB group and we agreed she'd come a few times to get things in order. First she came for four hours and was a dream.

Last week she came for 2 hours. I told her via text in advance that my priority was for her to do all the floors and clean the bathroom. When she arrived, I showed her the new cleaning supplies and we talked about the best way to clean the floors and bathroom and she got started decluttering the bathroom.

Then suddenly she moved onto totally unrelated organizing projects. I would remind her about the given tasks and she'd say those wouldn't take long, she just wanted to organize this or that. (I think she just really likes organizing, but regardless wasn't hearing me.) She lost track of time and ended up having to stay another hour.

When she left, she hadn't done the kitchen or bathroom floors and hadn't cleaned the bathroom, aside from getting out the trash. (My living room and bedroom floors looked good, as did the organizing she did in my bedroom.)

I like this woman as a person, but I'm understandably apprehensive about how to proceed. The way I see it, my options are:

A) Have her back and say something like 'Since we didn't get to these floors and bathroom last week, it's really important to do them all first thing."
B)Have her back and try to work out a lower rate for the session since it shouldn't even be necessary (It will be hard for me to have the guts to ask this, but I'm thinking about it)
C) Find someone else (I have a couple leads but nobody I know).

Or another option I haven't thought of.

What would be a good strategy?
posted by mermaidcafe to Work & Money (26 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
In defence of your cleaner, it’s hard to wipe down surfaces when there’s clutter across them so I can understand why that had to be cleared away first. If you plan on getting her back in and want her to tackle your surfaces, and and not spend her time putting everything away first so she can get to them, your best bet would be to do that yourself before she gets there. Then all she has to do is wipe things down.

I wouldn’t pay her less, she was working for you the entire time she was there. I’d make it easier for her to do the job you want her to do by clearing it away. If you’re not prepared to do this, then be prepared to pay more- not less - for the time it takes her to do it instead.
posted by Jubey at 11:15 PM on February 24, 2020 [24 favorites]


Could you offer to pay her by the task, rather than hourly? With an agreement about what "complete" means for, say, cleaning a particular floor?
posted by amtho at 11:49 PM on February 24, 2020


your best bet would be to do that yourself before she gets there.

For many people, were they capabale of doing that, there would be no housekeeper required, so that's a thing.

Mermaidcafe, I would go with A. Give it one more shot.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:50 PM on February 24, 2020 [3 favorites]


I totally get that some people are not capable of decluttering themselves! But you can’t magically expect your housekeeper to be able to clean a bathroom with stuff all over it without clearing it away first, you know? Someone has to do it and if it’s not you, it’s them. It’s also unreasonable to get irritated when you’ve left them with no other choice.
posted by Jubey at 11:59 PM on February 24, 2020 [10 favorites]


From the question, it doesn't sound like the disorganized items were blocking access to the floor, or perhaps they could have been moved our of the way (if they were in the way) without going into a total reorganization.
posted by amtho at 12:21 AM on February 25, 2020 [5 favorites]


To me, it sounds like you tried to be clear about what you wanted, and you want a relationship where you're able to do that (as opposed to a relationship where you trust her to identify the cleaning priorities for the day). And she wanted to clean the things that seemed like the top priority to her or simply didn't want to clean your floors. You two don't seem to be a good fit. I'm sure there are cleaners out there who would happily accommodate your requests, and I'm sure there are clients who want help organizing and de-cluttering, or who want a take-charge kind of person who will set priorities themselves. I'd say C. (Just google "cleaning services YourCity.")
posted by salvia at 1:13 AM on February 25, 2020 [6 favorites]


I'd change my answer if this was just one imperfect experience in a series of good experiences. In that case, have her back and make it clear that it needs to happen before she leaves, possibly with wording like A.
posted by salvia at 1:15 AM on February 25, 2020 [1 favorite]


I totally get that some people are not capable of decluttering themselves! But you can’t magically expect your housekeeper to be able to clean a bathroom with stuff all over it without clearing it away first, you know?

The question states that the organising projects were unrelated. I wouldn't call decluttering the bathroom unrelated. It sounds like she organised the bathroom then moved to another room instead of cleaning.

I would find someone else and explain to her that while she did a good job of the tasks she did, she didn't do the tasks you instructed her to do and took an hour longer than agreed.

I think its likely she just doesn't like/enjoy cleaning. She may also not see it as part of her job if she's a housekeeper not a cleaner. If you have her back and tell her its a priority to do the jobs she didn't do last time, you've no guarantee she wont still find other organising tasks to do to procrastinate on the cleaning jobs you want done.

If all the organizing and decluttering is sorted in the places you want cleaned, I'd consider hiring a cleaner rather than a housekeeper
posted by missmagenta at 1:19 AM on February 25, 2020 [3 favorites]


“Last time you were here I asked you to clean the floors. Instead you did some decluttering. Today, I need you to clean the floors before you do anything else.”
posted by synecdoche at 3:50 AM on February 25, 2020 [3 favorites]


Whatever else you do, you certainly can’t unilaterally decide to pay her less than she expects. Make a list in order of priority and share it with her.

Housekeepers who just clean stuff aren’t hard to find. It sounds like you hired an organizer and she sees that as her task.
posted by spitbull at 4:15 AM on February 25, 2020 [1 favorite]


Then suddenly she moved onto totally unrelated organizing projects. I would remind her about the given tasks and she'd say those wouldn't take long, she just wanted to organize this or that.

You've already attempted to correct her (which is frankly more than you should have to do if you already set out the desired tasks), so I would move on to someone else at this point.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:02 AM on February 25, 2020 [17 favorites]


A.
posted by james33 at 5:51 AM on February 25, 2020


I always straighten up before my cleaning lady comes. I want her to clean, not declutter, so I put away/hide the clutter.

If that doesn’t work for your situation, I would say C, with a suggestion that what you want is a cleaning service, rather than a housekeeper.
posted by elphaba at 6:59 AM on February 25, 2020 [2 favorites]


If I was told to "Do all the floors and clean the bathroom," I would start by cleaning the higher areas of the bathroom and do the bathroom floor last before moving on the the other floors. You don't want to splash cleaner or fling dust on a floor you just cleaned, so working top to bottom is a common method. So, maybe this was her plan to begin with and then she got distracted. I would give this person one more shot, but just one.
posted by soelo at 8:05 AM on February 25, 2020 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: To clarify: the areas she organized had nothing to do with the tasks. I'm glad she removed trash from the bathroom, but she followed that up by organizing a bedroom closet that I asked her to leave alone. She then moved on to organizing items on a bedroom shelf. Of course clearing clutter off a room she's cleaning is part of it, but doing other, unrelated things in a totally different room is where my complaint lies, especially since I asked her several times to stop and work on the floors.
posted by mermaidcafe at 8:30 AM on February 25, 2020 [9 favorites]


> I'm glad she removed trash from the bathroom, but she followed that up by organizing a bedroom closet that I asked her to leave alone.

Oh, in that case I would try to find someone else -- that goes beyond the normal range of cleaning styles.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:50 AM on February 25, 2020 [9 favorites]


I found B in a local FB group and we agreed she'd come a few times to get things in order.

Is it possible that B thinks the agreement was for her to come and help you pick up / organize, but she doesn't think (or want) actual cleaning to be part of the job?

You don't list this as an option, but I think the best thing you could do is to have a conversation with her before she comes again about the specific things you are looking for help with (and be very explicit that you want organizing but also deep-cleaning, if that's the case), and confirm she's up for both parts. If she's not, you can decide whether organizing alone is worth it to you, or tell her thanks but no thanks for future work.

Around where I live, there are professional organizers who will help get possessions in order and cleaning companies who will do things like deep-clean a bathroom, but I haven't seen a lot of overlap (surprisingly!). You might consider whether having B over for fewer sessions just to organize stuff, followed by hiring a straightforward cleaning company for a single cleaning session.
posted by iminurmefi at 8:55 AM on February 25, 2020 [3 favorites]


I agree with the corpse, you should get someone else. Your follow-up makes it clear that B's not the right helper for you.

In your option C you comment: "I have a couple leads but nobody I know" .. it's probably better to have someone you don't know, that way it's easier to be explicit about your needs and expectations. Perhaps you can even say to whoever you get next that it's a "trial run" to see if they fit.
posted by anadem at 8:59 AM on February 25, 2020 [4 favorites]


It's bizarre that she went into your closet. I can only assume she prefers organizing work to cleaning work and is not on the same page as you in terms of what tasks you are paying for.

When you hire a cleaner, you should:
1. walk them through the house, show them what you want cleaned and how (i.e. figure out which materials will be used and who will be providing them);
2. ask them how long they think that cleaning will take, to make sure it works for you logistically;
3. get their quote for the house (i.e. not per hour - they have to tell you what the service costs; it's ok if it needs to be adjusted later for some reason)
4. make sure you're on same page re what to do with stuff that's in their way (do you want them to pile up papers on a desk, or not touch? clothes left out go in hamper or? etc)

Their deliverable is to do what you told them. Your deliverables are to make sure the house is ready for them to do what you asked (e.g. if you asked them to vacuum, make sure the floors don't have junk on them; don't leave dirty dishes out unless washing up some dishes is part of the arrangement); to get out of their way while they work; to pay what you agreed; and tip at Christmas.

That's it. It should be a very simple transaction. You don't need to "know" them. Sometimes that can even backfire, like if you get a recommendation from a neighbor but then you want to fire the person but you're going to still be seeing them all the time because they're working for your neighbor.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:19 AM on February 25, 2020 [6 favorites]


Sounds like you & the cleaner have different ideas of clean. She assumed it meant clean AND tidy, you wanted just clean., If you have clearly stated what you want done & she has different ideas of what that entails then it's time to get a new cleaner.

Whenever I've had a cleaner I've always made it a goal to put away anything that would get in the way of cleaning what I need cleaned. So if I have a boxes on the floor but want the carpets vacuumed I move the boxes, or it can very easily degenerate into something like this. Which is what it sounds like happened to you.
posted by wwax at 10:10 AM on February 25, 2020 [2 favorites]


Based on your update, I'd find someone else.

The worst part IMO was that you talked it out beforehand and she completely disregarded your agreement.

I can see moving clutter out of the way but going to another room to organize a shelf just because she felt like it? It's bizarre.

I wouldn't hire her again and would not recommend her to anyone else.
posted by M. at 11:14 AM on February 25, 2020 [2 favorites]


You can find housecleaner check lists on-line (e.g. this one from a national chain). If you fill one out and send it to your next potential housekeeper, crossing off items you don't want done and starring ones you do, it should help make sure there's no misunderstandings.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:00 PM on February 25, 2020 [2 favorites]


I wonder if she thinks the kitchen and bathroom are actually dirty. She kind of dissed your wardrobe :D

As for your options:

A - Absolutely yes.
B - Absolutely not. My mother is a cleaner or "the help" as people say in the States (!!!!!!!!) and people seem to treat their pay as if it's just pocket money like they must have a secret stash of money at home or they're secretly rich and do cleaning as a hobby. No, please never under-pay. That's cruel.
C - If this next time doesn't work then yes.

If I were you I would have a sit-down conversation, say that you were not happy last time, say that the first time was really good and that is what you are looking for every time. I know you told her not to organize the wardrobe (and yes it is weird that she continued once you asked her not to) but I don't think she knows you're not happy and that her continuing to go rogue will mean that you will have to hire someone else.

Be clear, be frank.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 3:55 PM on February 25, 2020 [2 favorites]


By any chance, are you hiring her for less than the prevailing wage for cleaners in your area?
posted by corb at 6:39 PM on February 25, 2020


Hire someone else who follows directions.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:24 PM on February 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


Based on your update, I’d definitely find someone else.
posted by Jubey at 12:15 AM on February 27, 2020


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